Monthly Archives: February 2009

The NYC city council had their big meeting about the dreaded bed bugs. Apparently some people told their bed bug horror stories and their was some bed bug induced scratching going on. Yes bed bugs are spreading all over NYC and so far the city officials have not done much to prevent the spreading of the little critters.

According to an article titled “Going to the Mattresses” in the NY Post, Council Speaker Christine Quinn stated “They give me the heebie-jeebies.” I guess we can assume she was talking about the bed bugs. Apparently Council women Gale Brewer said “I don’t want to mention all the famous people who’ve called me about bed bugs.” Hopefully the bed bugs issue doesn’t need complaints by famous people to get some attention by the NYC city council.

Apparently the city council members did not come up with a plan to stop the little critters from taking over NYC. They did agree to initiate a task force. Perhaps the task force will ask President Obama to stimulate the economy by spending a little money and supply a trained bed bug sniffing dog for every NYC residence.

They lurk mostly in the shadows, with clear intentions of scurrying away from attentive eyes. They are rats, mice and other bothersome vermin. They continue to cause problems for restaurateurs in New York City.

New York City restaurant vermin problems have been the subject of many newspaper articles and television shows. Hopefully with the new regulation that is forthcoming, the frequency of such reports will seriously diminish.

When I lived in California, it was quite easy to know when a restaurant has passed muster with the local Health Department. Years ago they enacted regulations for restaurants by giving them an “A”, “B” or “C” grade. The “grade” must be displayed for all patrons to see. If you think about it, would you want to eat a restaurant with a lower grade as opposed to a higher one? A lower grade spells violations and trouble. According to Dr. Jonathan E. Fielding, who is the Director of Public Health for Los Angeles County, “an independent study showed that its letter system had not only reduced food-borne illness outbreaks associated with restaurants, but also had lowered associated hospitalizations by 20 percent.”

The system in Los Angles does have some flaws though. I remember going to lunch at my favorite “A” grade spot in downtown Los Angeles. Hundreds of people filter through the restaurant each and every day. I brought my salad back to my office and half way through my salad you could find me screaming and whacking my salad onto the floor. My co-workers just laughed until they realized that I had a roach in my salad…and they had just eaten at the same restaurant. I was quick to call the Health Department and they were equally quick at performing an inspection and completely shutting the restaurant down within two hours of my frantic call. It remained shut down for three weeks and I never stepped foot inside again.

The New York Times recently published an interview with Louis Sorkin, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History who is regarded as an expert on bed bugs. New Yorkers have been continually bugging him for bed bugs advice. Please don’t think he’s wacky since he sticks his arm into two bed bugs jar once a month. No it’s not for pleasure, the bed bugs colonies he maintains for research purposes need human blood and my guess is our president just might not be willing to stick his arm in a colony of bed bugs on a monthly basis; although perhaps once a year.

Mr. Sorkin had some interesting things to say about the little critters. He mentioned a report which states that one type of bed bug found in New York was 300 times more resistant to one of the common insecticides when compared to other bed bugs. Perhaps some Cryonite would be useful on these macho bed bugs. He went on to say the most difficult part of dealing with bed bugs is finding them. He also mentioned there are about 90 species of bed bugs. Unfortunately he didn’t mention any birth control pills for the little critters or any chant that would entice them to evacuate human homes. Oh well.

If fencing does not work or is not a good option for you, there are a few other tactics that you can try. Groundhogs are typically afraid of humans. Visiting your garden often, at various times of the day, will hopefully keep them away. Because of their fears, beach balls, plastic grocery bags cut into strips, Mylar balloons, lawn ornaments that make noise, pinwheels and streamers are also good deterrents. Some people have also had success with automatic sprinklers and motion activated lights as well. Scarecrows will also help keep birds and groundhogs away. They work best if they make noise or move in the wind.

Natural repellents can also be a way to keep groundhogs at bay. Groundhogs love succulent plants, but not when they burn their mouth. You can try mixing one gallon of water with one tablespoon of hot sauce or cayenne pepper together for a sizzling blast to their taste buds. This concoction is plant friendly and can be sprayed on the perimeter or directly on the plants that might otherwise be eaten.

Groundhogs do not like noxious smells. They particularilly do not like certain flowers like marigolds, snapdragons, dianthus, ageratum, nicotiana, sweet alyssum, and annual poppies. You should consider planting these types of flowers around the perimeter that you want protected. The bonus is that you will have beautiful flowers to view and plants that are unappealing to groundhogs.

Despite your best efforts, none of these options may work in keeping a groundhog off your land. You may find that you need to bring in the big guns….a wildlife control specialist instead. Check out how Stern Environmental can help you take care of your groundhog problem.

You would probably want to be warned if you had a frisky Mountain Lion lurking in your home. Millions of people would also like an advance warning if they have bed bugs in their house or hotel room. The Cimex CDC 3000 Bed Bug Monitor is now available. The state-of-the-art portable device offers an early warning for bed bugs infestations for homes, hotels, apartments, cruise ships and even quaint bungalows.

Bed bugs infestations have been increasingly reported all over the United States and the world. With the CDC 3000 Bed Bug Monitor you have an opportunity to detect and destroy the bed bugs before they become a major problem. The other great aspect of the device is that after a residence has been treated for bed bugs the device will monitor the house and make sure the treatments were successful.

The CDC 3000 Bed Bug Monitor works by mimicking the presence of a human body. Bed bugs are attracted by CO2, human-like warmth and human scent and these baits are all emitted by the CDC 3000 Bed Bug Monitor. After the portable unit attracts the bed bugs the little critters enter an opening in the device and become trapped and don’t have an opportunity to attack you.